Former DL Joel Penton wants to change education
Sometimes it feels as if America doesn’t have a prayer when it comes to balancing the desires of devout Christians with those of the religiously unaffiliated.
Former Ohio State defensive lineman Joel Penton understands this well. One of the heroes of the Buckeyes’ 42-39 win over rival Michigan in 2006 with a second-quarter sack of quarterback Chad Henne, Penton was active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Athletes in Action and Campus Crusade for Christ during his playing career.
He won Academic All-big Ten honors four times and the 2006 Wuerffel Trophy, which is like the Heisman for civic involvement. As such, he was much in demand as a public speaker and made more than 100 appearances while he was a Buckeye.
After he graduated, what had been his calling became his avocation.
“I spent the first 12 years of my career in full-time ministry, traveling and speaking in public high schools and middle schools all across the nation,” Penton said. “I founded a speakers bureau that now has been in over 3,000 schools, in front of more than 2 million students in
the last 15 years. It continues to this day.
“And I was intending to continue traveling and speaking, continue building the speakers bureau. That was just going to be my path.”
What changed is that Penton encountered a released time religious instruction program in his hometown of Van Wert, where 95% of the students were enrolled.
“I immediately became convinced this could change our nation,” Penton said.
Released time religious instruction is
not a new concept. In fact, it was approved by the Supreme Court in a 1952 ruling (Zorach v. Clauson) and has also been written into Ohio law.
It allows students to receive religious instruction during the school day provided certain conditions are met. Among them: The student cannot miss core classwork, instruction must happen off of school grounds and taxpayer money cannot be involved.
Learning this, Penton started Lifewise Academy, which helps offer such instruction and operates in a number of central Ohio schools. Penton estimates 35,000 students will participate this year.
He obviously doesn’t begrudge families who go the homeschooling route or those who choose private school, but he wanted there to be an option for those families without the resources to take over their child’s education or pay for tuition.
He wanted to provide an outlet for parents who want religious instruction to be part of their child’s day alongside the benefits of a public education.
Penton also wanted to offer something more.
“Separation of church and state, it makes sense,” he said. “But these deeper questions of life, they didn’t go away. They’re still bound up in the hearts and minds of kids.”
Penton and his wife Bethany, a former OSU gymnast, have kids of their own – five of them: Joel III, 14, Judah, 13, Luther, 11, Vera, 8, and Levi, 6.
His eldest boys play football in the Hilliard school system. Penton is grateful for the lessons the sport can teach.
“Life is hard,” he said, “and there are times when life is beating you, and you still need to, with your teammates, run out on the field – metaphorically speaking – and still give it your best. Even if it doesn’t appear there’s hope for victory.”
It’s a lesson Penton has applied in his own life, whether on the field or in his new mission field.